White
Birch Farm Riding Lessons
Photo of Melonie
and Breda ~ courtesy of Scarlet
Click photo for a better view
Melonie
and Breda at their PSG debut
Melonie Rainey is from Texarkana, Texas and has been
an "Equestrianne" for most of her life. Pretty much from
the start, it was Cowgirls and Indians! Self-Taught to
ride, was too fearless to know any better. She got her
start at the young age of five with a barn sour Paso
Fino mare named Pixie that pretty much tried to rub her
off on any and every tree they passed. Next came a
gorgeous buckskin Welsh cross that was beautiful, but
had the usual pony attitude that any horse person knows
and expects. Taught her how to say, I don't think so,
Buddy Boy! How about an off-the-track Quarter Horse?
Yep, her name was Cricket, slightly crazy -- scratch
that, TOTALLY crazy and fast as lightening. They tried
it all...thousands of miles of trails (bareback),
swimming in lakes, 4-H, Western Pleasure, halter class,
showmanship. An Appaloosa? Been there, done that. He was
an incredible barrel race and pole bender. Broke young
horses on a Quarter Horse ranch in Louisiana and also
for any neighbor that needed a hand. Too many horses to
name. Her nickname was "Horse" in elementary school,
insisting that everyone call her by this name.
It was
time for college, she went off to school, but then of
course you always get back to your roots, don't you? She
got the hankering to ride again, only this time she was
a bona fide city girl, living in Seattle, Washington.
"English style" riding was the name of the game. She
showed up to a fancy hunter/jumper barn with her jeans
tucked into her Harley boots. Didn't know any better!
They were real impressed - Not - but that's okay, cuz'
jumping was never her thing anyway. Saw a dressage horse
one day, a beautiful thing from Germany. She still
remembers that beautiful mare's name, Alaria, had never
seen anything like it. She cried at the beauty of the
movement and the shape of the saddle and the rider's
elegant positioning. It's been a love affair ever since.
That was about 13 years ago! During this time she has
bought a farm, boarded horses, designed equestrian
products (even a dressage saddle!), trained and shown
horses up the levels of dressage, all the way to Prix
St. Georges! She knows a little something about
horses...riding them, training them, loving them.
These days the pace is much slower. She'd like to share
some of her knowledge with others that want to learn.
Her approach is no nonsense, nothing too complicated,
nothing too fancy, just good old fashioned
horsewomanship. The emphasis is on the simple basics of
dressage.
Melonie loves ALL types of horses and
welcomes any breed. She has a soft spot for palomino
warmbloods....or palominos of any kind! She is schooling
her horse, Inca, a palomino German warmblood, at Third
Level, and is also training a beautiful pinto
Saddlebred, whom she plans to show summer of 2012. For
information on lessons, call Melonie at 206.271.6737.
You can also follow
White Birch Farm on Facebook.
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